===================================== MONASH ASIA INSTITUTE BULLETIN 2/2004 5 March 2004 ===================================== In this bulletin 1. CSEAS Seminars 2. Seminar: Islamic Parenting 3. Seminar: Navajo Healing and Health 4. Public Lecture: Dr. Trudy Griffin-Pierce 5. Solo Piano - Indonesia Pusaka 6. MAI postgraduate Seminar 7. 15th AASA Biennial Conference 8. HPAIR (Harvard) 2004 Conference 9. Website of the month: Asia-art.net ---------------------------------------------------- Item 1. CSEAS Seminars Thursday 11 March 2004, 11.00 am Room SG02 Manton Rooms, Monash University Clayton Campus "Dumbing Down Democracy: Trends in Internet Regulation: Surveillance and Control in Asia" Speaker: Mr James Gomez, PhD candidate, Monash Asia Institute Abstract This paper argues that the trends in state regulation, surveillance and control of the Internet in Asia stand to effectively reduce political expression that has emerged over the Internet. A variety of international media watch and human rights organizations have noted that since September 11, 2001, a slew of anti-terrorism laws have been adopted in Asia, which place greater restrictions on the Internet. Laws against online pornography, gambling, hate speech and spam have been revised to cover online political content and mobilizing. Such measures limit and reduce the space cyberactivists have to push the democratic agenda online. About the speaker James Gomez is a writer and an activist. He founded the Think Centre (Singapore) on 16 July 1999 and published 'Self-Censorship: Singapore's Shame' in September that year. James also co-founded Think Centre (Asia) in Bangkok in August 2001. For his use of the Internet for political communication and mobilizing people, he was identified separately at various times in 2001 as one of "Asia's 50 most powerful communicators" by Asiaweek, "An Asian Trailblazer" by Newsweek and an "Asian Making a Difference" by FEER. His book, 'Internet Politics: Surveillance & Intimidation in Singapore' was released in 2002. James' most recent publication is a co-edited volume entitled 'Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression & Media Censorship' (2004). Between August 1998 and February 2004 he was Regional Research and Communications Manager, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Regional Office, Thailand. He joined Monash Asia Institute as a PhD candidate on 1 March 2004. Email: jamesgomez@hotmail.com or jgom3@student.monash.edu.au ---------------------- Thursday 18 March 2004, 11.00 am Room SG02 Manton Rooms, Monash University Clayton Campus "Democratic Leaps and the Political Representation of Women in Indonesia" Speaker: Dr Susan Blackburn Chair: Emeritus Prof John Legge Abstract Last year Indonesia introduced legislation recommending that parties include at least 30 percent of women amongst their candidates for elections. This paper examines the background to this attempt to correct the decline in women's representation in the 1999 elections. Compared with most Western societies like Australia, the growth of women's political representation in Indonesia has not been slow and gradual but has rather proceeded by fits and starts. Indonesia is a case where upheaval associated with dramatic democratic breakthroughs may offer opportunities for the advancement of women's political representation, especially if supported by the international context. The paper analyses the development of women's political participation in Indonesia, stressing the need for attention to historical circumstances rather than static analyses of political representation based on a range of political factors like electoral systems and political culture. About the speaker Dr Susan Blackburn is a senior lecturer in the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University. This year will see the publication of her latest book, 'Women and the State in Modern Indonesia' by Cambridge University Press. ---------------------- CSEAS Open Meeting Thursday 25th March 2004 **Supervisors: Please forward to YOUR graduate students. Thanks. The Centre of Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Monash Asia Institute (MAI) invites interested members of the public, academic staff and especially all new and continuing Monash graduate students who have research interests that relate to Southeast Asia to an Open meeting (in place of the Centre's usual weekly seminar) 11.00 am - 12.30 pm on THURSDAY 25th March 2004 in Manton Room SG02, Menzies building (11), Clayton campus Please come along to * meet other Monash postgrads & colleagues researching Southeast Asia * see who won the postgraduate award for Research Excellence in 2003 * get invited to the Centre's annual 'at home' commencement party * suggest potential visitors/speakers for the 2004 Seminar Series * hear about plans for the 2004 Annual Indonesia Lecture Series * contribute your ideas for the future development of the Centre * nominate postgraduate student rep(s) for the Centre Standing Committee * discover how to submit material for publication through CSEAS - Why not publish that spare thesis chapter as a CSEAS Working Paper? To join our email list for future announcements, please sign on via the electronic form at http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/mailform.html Hope to see you on Thursday 25th March on SG02 at 11am! Penny (Dr Penelope Graham, Director of the Centre of Southeast Asian Studies) Note: Following this meeting is an Indonesian musical performance, SOLO PIANO - INDONESIA PUSAKA by Jaya Suprana - see Item 5 in this newsletter. ---------------------- ALL WELCOME TO CSEAS SEMINARS Enquiries for all CSEAS Seminars: Dr Penny Graham, Director, Centre of Southeast Asian Studies Phone: (613) 9905 2994 ---------------------------------------------------- Item 2. Seminar: Islamic Parenting Centre for Malaysian Studies, Monash Asia Institute and Minaret College Friday 19 March 2004, 6.00 pm - 8.00 pm South 1 (Building 64), Monash University Clayton Campus "Islamic Parenting" Speakers: Drs. Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir Abstract "The focus of this lecture is on achieving spousal harmony within the Muslim Family. It covers the basis of gender relations in Islam, and then focuses on spousal relations, including a description of the basic ingredients of a successful and harmonious marriage. Among these are commitment, trust & faithfulness, and good communication. The presentation also covers the shared obligations of husband and wife and provides guidelines for proper ways of resolving conflicts between them." About the speakers Drs. Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir is a wife/husband team. Together they co-authored the two best sellers parenting books "Meeting the Challenge of Parenting in the West, an Islamic Perspective", "Muslim Teens, Today's Worry, Tomorrow's Hope, a Practical Islamic Parenting Guide" and "Blissful Marriage" as well as other parenting books in Arabic. Some of their parenting books have been translated into French and German. They are teaching two courses on the this subject at the Islamic American University. They are both regular contributors to the family section of The American Muslim magazine. They have also written articles for Islamic Horizons magazine as well as The Message magazine. Both Drs. Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir are advisers in the Islam online website family section. Drs. Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir are the recipients of the City of Ottawa Certificate of Appreciation for the year 2003 for their volunteer work in the area of education. For more information about Drs Ekram and Mohamed Rida Beshir's visit, please see: http://www.minaret.vic.edu.au/seminar.htm Enquiries and RSVP: Zulfikar.Mohamad-Shariff@adm.monash.edu.au ---------------------------------------------------- Item 3. 'Navajo Healing and Health' Seminar During her visit to the Monash Asia Institute on 15 - 27 March 2004, Dr Trudy Griffin-Pierce, Assistant Professor of the Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, will present a seminar and a public lecture about her research on Navajo traditional medicine. Details are as follows: 23 March 2004, 12.00 noon - 1.00 pm Room 228, Building 55, Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies (CAIS) Monash University Clayton Campus Seminar jointly sponsored by Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies (CAIS), Monash University and Monash Asia Institute Speaker: Dr Trudy Griffin-Pierce, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona Chaired by Prof Lynette Russell Topic: An informal discussion about Dr Griffin-Pierce's most recent book: 'Native Peoples of the Southwest'. About the Speaker: Trudy Griffin-Pierce, of Catawba Indian descent, is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Arizona. In response to her request, in 1970, the Navajo Tribal Chairman found a traditional Navajo Indian family that she joined as a daughter, herding sheep and living in a hogan. Her strong emotional ties to this family led her to become an anthropologist whose research focuses on Navajo values and ceremonialism. She is the author of numerous scholarly articles and the following books: "Earth Is My Mother, Sky Is My Father: Space, Time, and Astronomy in Navajo Sandpainting", "The Encyclopaedia of Native America", and "Native America: Enduring Cultures and Traditions." In her most recent book, "Native Peoples of the Southwest", each chapter begins with an account of a contemporary event situated on tribal land in order to direct attention to issues of how tribal identities are being reinvented at the beginning of the 21st century. Enquiries and RSVP: Juliet Yee ---------------------------------------------------- Item 4: Public Lecture: Dr. Trudy Griffin-Pierce 'Navajo Health and Healing' 25 March 2004, 7.30 pm to 9.00 pm The Canberra Room, The Windsor Hotel, 103 Spring Street, Melbourne CBD Public Lecture by Dr Trudy Griffin-Pierce Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona An illustrated lecture about Navajo Health and Healing and its conflict with modern biomedical procedures. Trudy Griffin-Pierce fulfilled a lifelong dream by being adopted into a traditional Navajo Indian family in Arizona-herding sheep and living with them in a hogan as a daughter. From her involvement with the family, she began a new life that led to obtaining a Doctorate in Anthropology and a Professorship at the University of Arizona. She began to explore the basis of conflict between the traditional Navajo belief system and biomedical procedures in 1992 when she saw the difficulties in communication that were experienced by a Navajo family and biomedical personnel during the death of a child at the Intensive Care Unit at the University Medical Centre. In 1993 and 1994, as a direct result of this experience, she conducted workshops and a Grand Rounds presentation for hospital personnel to relate Navajo beliefs and practices to behaviour surrounding death and illness in the biomedical setting. She has written several books about the indigenous people of the North America but her specialty remains the American Southwest. Her research focuses on the Indian cultures of this area, including their ceremonies, crafts, and histories. She will describe her life with the Navajo, as well as their traditional beliefs and practices, including the ceremony conducted to protect her in her work with the sand paintings. She is currently co-editing "Time, Self, and Society: The Cross-Cultural Embodiment of Time in Illness and Health." Her present research focuses on Navajo patients' understanding of their health problems, how they and their kin prepare for an operation and cope with it, and what traditional healing practices are engaged in before and after the operation. Enquiries and RSVP: Juliet Yee ---------------------------------------------------- Item 5. Solo Piano - Indonesia Pusaka The Monash University Performing Arts and School of Music - Conservatorium present SOLO PIANO jaya suprana INDONESIA PUSAKA Thursday 25th March, 1.10pm Music Auditorium, Building 68 School of Music, Monash University Clayton Campus Host of his own weekly national TV talk show, author, cartoonist, and successful businessman, Jaya Suprana is also one of Indonesia's greatest musical treasures. A composer and graduate of the Musikhochschule Münster and Folkwanghochschule Essen in Germany, Suprana is one of Indonesia's most accomplished musical performers. Performing for one concert only in Melbourne on Thursday 25th March 2004 in a lunchtime concert at Monash University, he will play a number of his own compositions, Indonesian classical pieces and a show-stopping final multi-media presentation - Indonesia Pusaka in which Jaya Suprana accompanies President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Gus Dur, Amien Rais, Akbar Tanjung, and a host of national celebrities on the piano as they sing this much-loved Indonesian ballad. "I have never imagined that the piano can sound like the Indonesian Gamelan and Flute; such beautiful sound, such simplicity." (Lusian Lukman, London ) "Jaya Suprana is known as one of Indonesia's most renowned composers. His works are considered great and neat. Jaya always includes Indonesian ethnical elements in his compositions and that is what makes his music unique. Through his compositions he is preserving Indonesian culture." (Irsa Destiwi , Jakarta) Admission $2.00 Enquiries: Lyn JULIAN Events Manager, School of Music - Conservatorium, Monash University ---------------------------------------------------- Item 6. MAI Postgraduate Seminar Friday 26 March 2004 10.00 am to 12.30 pm Room S822, Level 8 South, Menzies Building (11) Monash Asia Institute, Monash University Clayton Campus "Surviving the fieldwork: challenges and realities" Ms Jimaima Lako, PhD Candidate, Asia Pacific Health and Nutrition Centre Ms Jimaima Lako has just returned from her first period of fieldwork in Fiji where she analyzed more than 70 locally produced plant foods. The analytical work she carried out in the field involved the identification of antioxidants and a number of compounds in food sources. From the 70 plant foods she analysed, she was able to identify and select the two appropriate food sources for the second phase of her fieldwork, the intervention study. Jimaima Lako is now preparing for the clinical trials, and in this seminar, she will focus on practical issues and aspects that she confronted during her first fieldwork trip to Fiji. She will include in her discussions the challenges she is anticipating for the second phase. Enquiries: Juliet Yee =============================================================== Other items of interest =============================================================== Item 7. 15th AASA Biennial Conference 29 June - 2 July 2004 National Convention Centre, Canberra ACT, Australia 15th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia The Asian Studies Association of Australia invites you to participate in the 15th Biennial Conference in Canberra in mid-2004. The conference will be held in Canberra's National Convention Centre and provides an opportunity to showcase current work in any aspect of Asian Studies. The conference will address a wide variety of themes, including religious change, political authority, migration, terror and violence, architecture, poverty and wealth creation, gender, bilateral trade agreements and the state of the profession. Conference Theme The 2004 ASAA Conference will reflect the breadth and depth of Asian Studies in Australia, the region and the world and there is therefore no single Conference theme. A strong feature of the Conference, however, will be the relevance of Asian Studies to the contemporary world. Special sessions for postgraduates and younger scholars will feature advice on getting published and seeking employment. Conference Organizing Committee Robert Cribb (Conference Convenor) Louise Edwards Richard Thomson supported by an Academic Programme Committee drawn from the wider Canberra academic community. The ASAA acknowledge the generous assistance of the Australian National University in supporting this conference. Enquiries: Conference Secretariat ACTS Conferencing Pty Ltd Acting as agent for: The 15th Biennial Conference of the ASAA GPO Box 2200, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia Tel.: (+61 2) 6257 3299 Fax: (+61 2) 6257 3256 Email: asaa@ausconvservices.com.au Web Site: http://coombs.anu.edu.au/ASAA/conference ----------------------------------------------------- Item 8. Harvard Project of Asian & International Relations 2004 Call for Papers 18 - 21 August 2004, Shanghai, China Website: www.hpair.org HPAIR 2004 invites graduate students and postgraduates (there is no age limit) pursuing research relevant to one of the specific HPAIR 2004 topics to submit a paper for publication in the HPAIR 2004 Conference Proceedings. Submissions should be in a format resembling that of a scholarly journal article in the field, be approximately 20-25 pages in length, and include extensive citations. Submissions may reflect any of a wide variety of methodologies and/or perspectives, and may employ approaches including but not limited to case studies, formal models, data analyses, regional studies, or policy briefings. However, papers should be research-based rather than opinion pieces or descriptive commentaries. The HPAIR editing committee will review each submission for originality, relevance and publishable quality. Authors of selected submissions will be invited to present their research during the graduate seminar portion of the conference to fellow students in the field and a panel of faculty acting as respondents. All students submitting a paper need to fill out parts 1 and 2 of the general conference application (no need to write those two general essays) and also need to submit an abstract before the final paper. All abstracts and papers should be submitted to the online Call for Papers Submission webpage. Submissions begin January 1, 2004. Deadline for paper submission is April 15, 2004. We will return the papers with comments and notification of acceptance by May 15, 2004. For more information on paper submission and application, please see the online application at http://hpair.student.harvard.edu/login/. The following are the six submission topic categories. Sub-topics listed under each category are suggested but not limited to the ones listed below. If you are unsure whether your paper is appropriate, please feel free to ask the Head of Workshops. Urbanization: - Planning Asia's cities as their development relates to social concerns in Asia's cities, i.e. crime, public health, transportation, economic development. - The efficacy of urban planning as a development tool, as it relates to government control and community involvement - Hybridity in the Asian city, i.e. East/West collaboration, traditionalism vs. modernism - How cycles of urban growth, decay, and renewal impact cities over time - Imagining and tracing future trends in Asian urbanization Modernization and Identity: - Define modernization and identity? Is it in fact meaningful to speak of one East Asian identity, or does the region possess multiple, and possibly, competing identities? - What do you think is the regional identity of East Asia? How has regional identity evolved during the course of modernization? What do you think has the impact of modernization been on the regional identity? - How does identity help us understand social changes? Does identity add anything that other socio-economic and political factors do not? Do you believe that in the post-Cold War era, identity is more significant? If so, why? And if not, why not? - What is identity? Compare the regional identity of East Asia with that of one other region. Discuss it, both normatively and descriptively. Security: - What is the relationship between increasing globalization and the propensity for conflicts in Asia? - How has nuclear proliferation in Asia affected the likelihood of war and conflict resolution? - Why is the younger generation in China, the first that grew up entirely during reform, displaying strong nationalistic sentiments? - What is the true motive for the North Korean government's nuclear plan? In retrospect, did the US address the problem effectively? - How can Asian countries deal with the rising threat of non-conventional security threats such as terrorism? Science and Technology: - General History of Science or Technology in Asia - The Introduction of Western Science into Asia - What is the Social/Cultural Place of Science, Philosophy and Scholarship in Asia? - How have politics and economics affected the practice of science in Asia? - Is there basic science in Asia or only applied science and technology? Civil Society: - How do definitions of Civil Society apply to Asia? - What are the implications of an expanding Civil Society? Is the state's role shrinking? Are there democratic renewal and a more active citizenship? - Can the state lead Civil Society? Where social-welfare is concerned, how should the state and society partner? - What are the roles of women in the workplace? What are the roles of private entrepreneurs, professional organizations, and NGO in Asia? - Are Universities sources of political pluralism? Law: - What is the rule of law? How is it understood in East Asia? Is it a useful concept in measuring the success of a legal system or a society? What challenges to rule of law have already been met? What challenges still lie ahead? - What has motivated the drive for legal reforms in China, South Korea, and Japan? Are these external or internal forces, and what difference does it make? - How, if at all, will present legal reforms alter the course of development in China, Japan, Korea, and East Asia? - Issues of comparative law in East Asia, focusing in particular on recent changes or proposed changes in constitutional law, bankruptcy, general corporate law, and corporate governance. If you have any questions regarding HPAIR please feel free to email delegates@hpair.org. ----------------------------------------------------- Item 9. Website of the month: Asia-art.net http://www.asia-art.net/ Asia-art.net promotes Asian art appreciation to the world. The website presents you with traditional and modern Asian art that captures the spirit, cultural complexity and charm of Asia. The arts of China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, India, Cambodia and Malaysia are featured. Information on the history, techniques, artists profile and their paintings, lists of many museums, galleries and organisations are included and regularly updated. ======================================================================== The Monash Asia Institute Newsletter incorporates news items from the six research centres of the Monash Asia Institute, partner organisations and other groups working to promote Asian Studies in Australia. For further information about the Monash Asia Institute and this newsletter: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/mai/ email: monash.asia.institute@adm.monash.edu.au ========================================================================